John Nicholas Gray (born 17 April 1948) is an English
political philosopher
Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from de ...
and author with interests in
analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...
, the
history of ideas
Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...
, and
philosophical pessimism
Philosophical pessimism is a philosophical tradition that argues that life is not worth living and that non-existence is preferable to existence. Thinkers in this tradition emphasize that suffering outweighs pleasure, happiness is fleeting or u ...
. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the
London School of Economics and Political Science
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...
. Gray contributes regularly to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', ''
UnHerd'', ''
The Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'' and the ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'', where he is the lead book reviewer. He is an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
.
Gray has written several influential books, including ''
False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism'' (1998), which argues that free market globalisation is an unstable
Enlightenment project currently in the process of disintegration; ''
Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals'' (2002), which attacks philosophical
humanism
Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The me ...
, a worldview which Gray sees as originating in religions; and ''
Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia'' (2007), a critique of
utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...
thinking in the modern world.
Gray sees
volition, and hence
morality
Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...
, as an illusion, and portrays humanity as a ravenous species engaged in wiping out other forms of life. Gray has written that "humans ... cannot destroy the Earth, but they can easily wreck the environment that sustains them."
Academic career
Gray was born into a working-class family, with a docker-turned-carpenter father,
in
South Shields
South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...
, County Durham. He attended
South Shields Grammar-Technical School for Boys from 1959 until 1967, then studied at
Exeter College, Oxford, reading
philosophy, politics and economics
Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...
(PPE), completing his B.A., Masters of Philosophy. and Doctorate in Philosophy.
He formerly held posts as lecturer in political theory at the
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
, fellow and tutor in politics at
Jesus College, Oxford, and lecturer and then professor of politics at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. He has served as a visiting professor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
(1985–86) and Stranahan Fellow at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center,
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...
(1990–1994), and has also held visiting professorships at
Tulane University
The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...
's Murphy Institute (1991) and
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
(1994). He was Professor of European Thought at the
London School of Economics and Political Science
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...
until his retirement from academic life in early 2008.
Political and philosophical thought
Among philosophers, he is known for a thoroughgoing rejection of
Rawlsianism and for exploration of the uneasy relationship between
value pluralism
In ethics, value pluralism (also known as ethical pluralism or moral pluralism) is the idea that there are several values which may be equally correct and fundamental, and yet in conflict with each other. In addition, value-pluralism postulates th ...
and liberalism in the work of
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...
.
Gray's political thought is noted for its mobility across the political spectrum over the years. As a student, Gray was on the left and continued to vote
Labour into the mid-1970s. By 1976 he had shifted towards a right-liberal
New Right position, on the basis that the world was changing irrevocably through technological inventions, realigned financial markets and new economic power blocs and that the left failed to comprehend the magnitude and nature of this change. In the 1990s Gray became an advocate for
environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...
and
New Labour. Gray considers the conventional (left-wing/right-wing) political spectrum of conservatism and
social democracy
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
as no longer viable.
On
liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
, Gray identified the common strands in liberal thought as being ''individualist'', ''egalitarian'', ''
meliorist'', and ''universalist''. The individualist element avers the ethical primacy of the human being against the pressures of social
collectivism, the egalitarian element assigns the same moral worth and status to all individuals, the meliorist element asserts that successive generations can improve their sociopolitical arrangements, and the universalist element affirms the moral unity of the human species and marginalises local cultural differences.
[Gray, John. ''Liberalism''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. , p. xii.]
More recently, he has criticised
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
, the global
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...
and some of the central currents in
Western thinking, such as
humanism
Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The me ...
, while moving towards aspects of
green thought, drawing on the
Gaia theory of
James Lovelock. It is perhaps for this critique of humanism that Gray is best known.
[''Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals'']
Central to the doctrine of humanism, in Gray's view, is the inherently
utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...
belief in
meliorism; that is, that humans are not limited by their biological natures and that advances in ethics and politics are cumulative and that they can alter or improve the
human condition
The human condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, reason, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered ...
, in the same way that advances in science and technology have altered or improved
living standards
Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outside ...
.
Gray contends, in opposition to this view, that history is not progressive, but cyclical.
Human nature
Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
, he argues, is an inherent obstacle to cumulative ethical or political progress.
Seeming improvements, if there are any, can very easily be reversed: one example he has cited has been the use of
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
by the United States against terrorist suspects. "What's interesting", Gray said in an interview in ''
032c'' magazine, "is that torture not only came back, but was embraced by liberals, and defended by liberals. Now there are a lot of people, both liberal and conservative, who say, 'Well, it's a very complicated issue.' But it wasn't complicated until recently. They didn't say that five or ten years ago."
Furthermore, he argues that this belief in progress, commonly imagined to be secular and liberal, is in fact derived from an erroneous Christian notion of humans as morally autonomous beings categorically different from other animals. This belief, and the corresponding idea that history makes sense, or is progressing towards something, is in Gray's view merely a Christian prejudice.
In ''
Straw Dogs'' he argues that the idea that humans are
self-determining agents does not pass the acid test of experience. Those
Darwinist thinkers who believe humans can take charge of their own destiny to prevent environmental degradation are, in this view, not
naturalists, but apostles of humanism.
He identifies the
Enlightenment as the point at which the
Christian doctrine of salvation was taken over by secular idealism and became a political religion with universal emancipation as its aim.
Communism, fascism and "global democratic capitalism" are characterised by Gray as Enlightenment "projects" which have led to needless suffering, in Gray's view, as a result of their ideological allegiance to this religion.
Agonistic liberalism
The term
agonistic liberalism appears in Gray's 1995 book ''Isaiah Berlin''. Gray uses this phrase to describe what he believes is Berlin's theory of politics, namely his support for both value pluralism and liberalism.
More generally, agonistic liberalism could be used to describe any kind of liberalism that claims its own value commitments do not form a complete vision of politics and society, and that one instead needs to look for what Berlin calls an "uneasy equilibrium" between competing values. In Gray's view, many contemporary liberal theorists would fall into this category, for instance
John Rawls
John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral philosophy, moral, legal philosophy, legal and Political philosophy, political philosopher in the Modern liberalism in the United States, modern liberal tradit ...
and
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...
.
Reception
Acclaim
Gray's work has been praised by, amongst others, the novelists
J. G. Ballard,
Will Self
William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...
and
John Banville
William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...
, the theologian
Don Cupitt, the journalist
Bryan Appleyard, the political scientist
David Runciman, historian and cultural critic
Morris Berman, investor and philanthropist
George Soros, the environmental scientist
James Lovelock and the author
Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
[False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism]
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...
described Gray's 1984 book ''Hayek on Liberty'' as "The first survey of my work which not only fully understands but is able to carry on my ideas beyond the point at which I left off."
His 1998 book ''
False Dawn'' was praised by George Soros as "a powerful analysis of the deepening instability of global capitalism" which "should be read by all who are concerned about the future of the global economy".
John Banville praised ''
Black Mass'', saying that "Gray's assault on Enlightenment ideas of progress is timelier than ever".
His 2002 book
''Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals'' has received particular praise. J. G. Ballard wrote that the book "challenges most of our assumptions about what it means to be human, and convincingly shows that most of them are delusions" and described it "a powerful and brilliant book", "an essential guide to the new millennium" and "the most exhilarating book I have read since
Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...
's ''
The Selfish Gene
''The Selfish Gene'' is a 1976 book on evolution by ethologist Richard Dawkins that promotes the gene-centred view of evolution, as opposed to views focused on the organism and the group. The book builds upon the thesis of George C. Willia ...
''."
Will Self called the book "a contemporary work of philosophy devoid of jargon, wholly accessible, and profoundly relevant to the rapidly evolving world we live in" and wrote "I read it once, I read it twice and took notes. I arranged to meet its author so I could publicise the book – I thought it that good."
In 2002 ''Straw Dogs'' was named a book of the year by J. G. Ballard in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''; by
George Walden in ''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Tele ...
''; by Will Self,
Joan Bakewell,
Jason Cowley and
David Marquand
David Ian Marquand FLSW (20 September 1934 – 23 April 2024) was a British academic and Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP).
Background and political career
Marquand was born in Cardiff on 20 September 1934. His father was Hilary Marq ...
in the ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
''; by
Andrew Marr in ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''; by
Jim Crace in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
''; by Hugh Lawson Tancred in ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
''; by
Richard Holloway in the ''
Glasgow Herald''; and by
Sue Cook in ''
The Sunday Express''.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb has written that John Gray is the modern thinker for whom he has the most respect, calling him "prophetic".
Criticism
Gray's ''
Straw Dogs'' has been criticised by
Terry Eagleton, who has written: "mixing
nihilism
Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and ...
and
New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
ism in equal measure, Gray scoffs at the notion of
progress
Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...
for 150 pages before conceding that there is something to be said for
anaesthetics. The enemy in his sights is not so much a straw dog as a
straw man: the kind of starry-eyed
rationalist who passed away with
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...
, but who he has to pretend still rules the world".
The academic and author Danny Postel of the
University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...
also took issue with ''Straw Dogs''. Postel stated that Gray's claim that environmental destruction was the result of humanity's flawed nature would be "welcome news to the captains of industry and the architects of the global economy; the ecological devastation they leave in their wake, according to Gray, has nothing to do with their exploits."
Postel also claimed that too much of ''Straw Dogs'' rested on "blanket assertion", and criticised Gray's use of the term "plague of people" as an outdated "
neo-Malthusian persiflage about
overpopulation
Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migr ...
".
Postel strongly condemned Gray for outlining "complete political passivity. There is no point whatsoever in our attempting to make the world a less cruel or more livable place."
In his 2004 book, ''How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World'', the British journalist, writer and broadcaster,
Francis Wheen, wrote:
BBC Radio
John Gray has made several broadcasts for
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's programme ''A Point of View''.
In August and September 2011, he made six broadcasts:
* ''Greece and the Meaning of Folly'': Taking the myth of the
Trojan Horse
In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...
as his starting point, he explores what he sees as the modern-day folly unfolding in Europe.
* ''Kim Philby'': Why
Kim Philby and so many others failed to predict the future.
* ''The Revolution of Capitalism'': Why an increasing number of people believe that
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
was right.
* ''Cats, Birds and Humans'': Why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself.
* ''Believing in Belief'': Argues that the scientific and rationalist attack on religion is misguided.
* ''Churchill, Chance and the Black Dog'': The chance encounters that made
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
Britain's wartime Prime Minister.
He presented a second sequence from November 2014, sharing his ''Point of View'' on:
* ''Capitalism and the Myth of Social Evolution''
* ''Soylent and the Charm of the Fast Lane''
* ''Dostoevsky and Dangerous Ideas''
* ''Thinking the Unthinkable''
In March 2023 he made another broadcast:
* ''Proportional Representation and a New Politics''
Other programmes include:
* "The Dangers of a Higher Education" (23 February 2018)
* "Teffi: Silver Shoes and the Dream of Revolution" (2 March 2018)
* "Brexit and Illiberal Europe" (July 2018)
Honours
Asteroid
91199 Johngray, discovered by astronomer
Eric Walter Elst at ESO's
La Silla Observatory
La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observato ...
in 1998, was named in his honour.
The official was published by the
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Funct ...
on 18 June 2008 ().
Gray is a member of
World Minds.
Books
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Film appearances
* ''
Marx Reloaded'',
Arte
Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...
, April 2011.
References
Further reading
*
*
* Horton, John and
Glen Newey, eds. (2007). ''The Political Theory of John Gray''. London: Routledge. .
External links
Interviews
* Interview on Novara Media (2023)* Two-part interview conducted by Henk de Berg (2019).
*
part I: Atheism*
part II: Political populism ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quietu ...
'' 10 June 2013
John Gray radio interview on the 'Philosopher's Zone' 28 June 2008
(
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...
)
Audio: John N. Gray in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme ''The Forum''
Reviews of his work
AC Grayling reviews ''Black Mass'' ''
New Humanist'' July/August 2007
Ian Hargearves, Professor of Journalism at Cardiff Universityreviews ''Straw Dogs''.
*
Terry Eagletonbr>
reviews ''Straw Dogs'' ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' September 2002
Simon Critchley on ''The Silence of Animals''Jeremy Shearmur ''Gray's Progress: From Liberalisms to Enlightenment's Wake''The Journal of Libertarian Studies 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, John
1948 births
Living people
Critics of Marxism
Atheist philosophers
20th-century British philosophers
21st-century British philosophers
Harvard University staff
Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford
Academics of the University of Essex
Academics of the London School of Economics
Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford
People from South Shields
British political philosophers
Isaiah Berlin scholars